Takamura Suoh;
Click, click. My shoes clicked against the smooth hard floor, and echoed in the empty hallway. I slowed and looked out the window. A sunset coloured the sky in pinks and purples. It was really quite beautiful, but despite this beauty I sighed. Once again we were working into the night. Likely late into the night, if the piles of paperwork I left Kaichou with were any indication.
I picked up my pace. I'd already been gone an hour tracking down some files we needed. It was time to get back... who knew what Kaichou had done (or not done, in the case of paperwork) in my absence.
I stopped at a set of doors and looked up at the sign overhead. It read Elementary School Division Student Council. I placed my hand on the doorknob and stopped as I heard laughter and Ijyuin exclaiming, "Sugoi, Kaichou!"
I had a bad feeling about this. Stifling another sigh, I opened the door and braced myself.
I could feel the corner of my eye twitch as I surveyed the room. The lighting had changed, instead of harsh fluorescent light it was muted, softer. It was actually quite pleasant, I wouldn't mind keeping it in. It was everything else that was the problem. First of all the floor could no longer be seen as it was covered by grass (grass?!). Added to this were the small gardens that were all over the room and completely engulfed all our desks. Kaichou's was covered in every type of rose imaginable, all in shades of red and pink. To top that off the mountain of paperwork I had left for him was covered in vines, binding the papers tightly. I could feel a headache starting to come on.
Ijyuin's desk was surrounded and covered by big, bright daisies, whereas mine had wisteria's...
I felt a slight blush rise to my cheeks and shook my head to clear it. Putting on a stern frown I looked to the centre of the room where Ijyuin and Kaichou were busy pruning small bushes into different shapes. Already there was a penguin, the school symbol, several cakes, pies, and other such sweets, a top hat, a woman's shoe, and many, many other things.
It seemed as though Kaichou had just put the finishing touches on a bush that resembled me. Beside that was one of Ijyuin. Ijyuin meanwhile was clapping at Kaichou's success.
"Takamura-senpai," Ijyuin greeted, "Isn't Kaichou awesome?"
"Akira, please, you did just as good of a job," Kaichou turned to face me, "Suoh, so glad you're back. Come, we saved you some bushes."
"Kaichou..." I said in warning. With all the effort he put into this, he could have finished all the paper work.
Kaichou blinked innocently at me. I wasn't fooled for a second.
"Kaichou!" I said a little more strongly.
"Hai? Is there something the matter, Suoh?"
He enjoyed doing this, I was sure of it.
Imonoyama Nokoru;
Oh, the expression on his face... it's just priceless. What I was expecting of course, but not what I had hoped to see. If only Suoh would be a little less serious for once and enjoy himself. Have some fun instead of always work, work, work. Thought this was enjoyable in its own right.
But, alas, I had better do something before Suoh completely blows up at me. Already I could see the signs that an explosion was imminent. The twitching of his eye, the scowl on his face, the tightly clenched fists.
I handed Suoh the clippers, "Here you work on some of the bushes while I do a bit of that paperwork, how's that?"
To see Suoh enjoy himself, and clip away at some bushes would be worth doing paperwork. Besides, it's almost to the point where it'll effect elementary school operation, and I certainly couldn't have that.
I could see him debating it. To have me do paperwork I was sure he'd go to any length. Finally he gave a short nod and moved to a bush. Akira clapped in delight and proclaimed that he was going to go make some tea. Oh, goody!
I watched Suoh stare at one of the bushes for a while before tentatively clipping it. I smiled and turned to face my paperwork. It was covered in vines. Oh dear, that's going to make it difficult to get at. Of course that had been the point, but now that I said I would do it (at least for a little while) I really needed to get at it.
Hmmmmm... Well, I guess I'll just have to move everything. Heh... that'll take awhile.
I was right. By the time I had finished clearing away the vines (careful not to damage them as they were on loan from the greenhouses), Suoh had almost finished his first bush. Strangely enough it seemed to resemble a certain purple haired, pigtailed kindergarten student. More importantly, however, was that he seemed to be enjoying himself.
I sighed and cleared away enough of the roses to work. I picked up the first paper and looked at it wearily. This was going to be a long night. Looking at the clock I wondered where Akira could be. It didn't usually take him this long to make tea. Maybe he was making a cake to go with the tea. Yummy!
I looked in my inbox and saw an envelope addressed to me. That was odd, it wasn't from Suoh or Akira and I didn't recognize the handwriting. Which meant either it was from one of the male members of the school of a lady who had never written me before. I didn't really think this could be the case, though. After all there had been no ladies transferred to this school within the past couple of months. Besides, I had the distinct feeling that it wasn't written by a female and I could usually trust my instincts.
Must have arrived during classes, and before I started the renovations on the council room. I grabbed my letter opener and tore it open. I scanned the letter quickly, and swallowed hard. It was not good news.
Trying to keep my voice steady I told Suoh, "We had better go find Akira."
He walked up to my desk. Looking at me he became concerned, "What's wrong?"
I handed him the letter.
Ijyuin Akira;
As I closed the door behind me I smiled. I was glad that Kaichou was going to do some work. I didn't want a fight to start. That would be absolutely awful. The baseball match was bad enough, though that turned out better than all right. Still... I just couldn't help but worry that one day they're going to get into a big fight. How awful that would be! The Clamp Campus Detectives would be no more, the student council would be in shambles, and everything would just be awful!
But... really it was silly to worry about it. It wouldn't happen, right? I mean Kaichou and Takamura-senpai were too good of friends. With that in mind I concluded that it was really no use in worrying about it and thought about something else. I smiled again as I walked down the hall. Clipping the bushes had been wonderfully fun. Kaichou always thought of the best activities.
What a wonderful day this had been and it was going to get even better yet. After all it was Friday. The night when the 'mysterious 20 masks' went to go have tea with Utako-san. I was going to head right over after we were finished. I hope we didn't take too much longer...
There was the kitchen! I opened up the doors and made my way through the familiar territory. As I let the tea brew I walked into a fridge that was as big as a room itself! I searched for the cookies I had baked that afternoon. As soon as I found them I ran out of the fridge. Brrrrr... it was cold!
By that time the tea was finished. I placed everything on a tray and was about to head out when I noticed that there were several people blocking the door. They must have been students, college by the looks of it, for it was too late for non campus people to be admitted to the school proper.
"Konbonwa," I greeted them.
"Are you Ijyuin Akira?" the man in the middle asked.
"Hai. Is there something I can do for you?"
The man in the middle smiled and gave a slight nod of his head. The others rushed forward. I blinked and ducked under their punches. This was unexpected. They proceeded to attack and I nimbly avoided them. I ran around stoves, tables, garbage cans and chairs. The men cursed as they kept running into the items I was running around. Tables and chairs went crashing to the ground.
In a fluent motion I set my tray on the counter and did another run of the room. Then I ran straight at the fridge, opened it, and made a sharp turn right. The men kept running. Right into the fridge. I closed the door. I'd have to remember to open it again once they'd had a chance to cool down. I didn't want them freezing to death.
I heard a click and turned around. Something slammed into my shoulder.
I started in shock at the remaining man. He held a gun trained on
me. My knees gave out and I fell. As the world began to blur
I pulled out the tranquillizer dart. It fell from my hand as the
world went black.
Takamura Suoh;
Kaichou and I ran down the halls. The letter's contents were fresh in my mind as I ran.
To Imonoyama Nokoru, Elementary Division Kaichou and the leader of the 'Clamp Campus Detectives.'We arrived at the kitchen. The door was open and we stared into the room in shock. Tables and chairs were overturned. The door to the refrigerator was open. All around the room were the signs of a fight.
I give you greetings, though surely you will not like what it is I have to say.
I wish to test you, and at the end of this test I have an offer to make. Now this shall be no ordinary test, I assure you, the stakes are very high. Your friends lives to be precise.
My intention is to remove them from the campus, and hold them captive. Your test is to track them down. I'm sure such an acclaimed detective as yourself should be able to do so with little effort.
I shall warn you. The longer you take the more your friends shall suffer.
Updates and photos shall follow this letter.
I look forward to meeting you, Nokoru.The Puppet Master
Kaichou walked to the counter where a tray of tea and cookies sat. He poked his finger into the tea and proclaimed, "Luke warm."
We both ran out of the room. Luke warm meant there might still be a chance of catching them. Not much of a chance, but a chance none the less. We ran outside and circled around, searching for anything suspicious. After several circuits of the building and surrounding area we went back to the kitchen. They were too far gone.
Kaichou stood in the centre of the room, flushed and out of breath. After spending a mere moment to catch his breath he began searching for clues. I did the same.
"Akira was able to get the tea and cookies before he was attacked. By the looks of the damage the kidnappers were older, and likely men," Kaichou voiced his observations, his voice slightly strained. He was upset. I didn't blame him, I was too.
I went over to the open refrigerator. Looking around I called my own observations to Kaichou, "The food in here is all disturbed. It looks like someone was pounding on the door from the inside."
"There are skid marks going to the fridge. One of them was wearing black soled shoes," Kaichou paused, "It seems Akira managed to lock one or more of them in the fridge."
I nodded. Kaichou was silent for awhile, searching the room. When he spoke again his tone was quiet.
"Suoh."
I went over to see what he had found. "That's a-"
"Tranquillizer dart," Kaichou confirmed, "This is how they managed to get Akira."
He stood, "I think we found all we're going to find here. I'm going to do some checking on this dart. Suoh, I want you to go through the security logs."
"Hai," I replied.
We left the kitchen and went separate ways. It would seem we would no be getting any council work done tonight, and for once I didn't care. Some things were more important then paperwork.
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Boy never thought we hear Suoh say that! Well here it is... the
first chapter of my Clamp Campus Detectives fic... if it wasn't so late
at night I'd go watch some of my favourite episodes (I might anyway).
Who is this mysterious 'Puppet Master' and what does she want?
And what's going to happen to poor Akira? I know the answer to some
of these questions...
-- Written by Koneko, originally in 2000, but with some tweaking done to bring this version in May 30, 2001.